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One of my favorite breakfast comfort foods is bagels with cream cheese. On occasion, I like to have a choice of either a sweet or savory cream cheese to go along with my bagel. There are many choices in the supermarket for flavored cream cheese, but there are so many additional ingredients added that I find I’m either unable to pronounce or even know what I’m looking at unless I look it up! To stay away from artificial flavors and unnecessary ingredients, I came up with these flavor combinations that fit the bill. The great thing is you can add your own flavor combinations to your liking. These recipes below have a really nice balance of flavors and textures. Feel free to make your own flavor combinations. It’s that easy!

ORANGE MARMALADE, CARDAMOM & PECAN CREAM CHEESE

8 oz cream cheese at room temperature
1/4 cup orange marmalade
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 – 1/2 cup of chopped pecans or walnuts

SAVORY FRESH HERB CREAM CHEESE

8 oz cream cheese at room temperature
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup finely chopped chives or green onions and extra for garnish
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic powder

Leave the cream cheese out at room temperature until softened, about 1-1/2 hours, add cream cheese to a medium sized bowl. Whichever recipe you choose above, add all the ingredients to the cream cheese and blend thoroughly with a spatula, or a mixer. Serve along with bagels, bagel chips or even crackers.